Night
by Raven Shinobi
Summary: Mikoto ponders over the phenomena of Gaia. Takes place after the final battle.


**Disclaimer: **_**Final Fantasy IX **_**is the property of **_**Square-Enix**_**.**

**A/N: this is a rewrite of a fic that I wrote back in 2008 that was titled Circadian Rhythm. The core storyline is still the same, though I rewrote most of the paragraphs and dialogue. **

**Night**

Darkness spread to infinity, replacing the afternoon sunlight that had pierced through the mist at the moment the party had made it back from the battle that had decided the fate of the world. The warm, golden light that shone on Gaia was unlike the cool, blue light that had dominated the 24-hour cycle on Terra. She wondered how long it had taken him to adapt to Gaia's light, phenomena and customs when he was a mere child of four, and how long it had taken him to forget about Garland, his dying homeland and his destiny to bring ruin upon the very world he was settling into.

As they ascended the giant roots of the Iifa tree leading up to the hills of Conde Petie Mountain Pass the blueness of the genome's eyes met that of Gaia's moon that lit the dark sky. So, this was the daily phenomenon she had heard the Black Mages refer to as 'Night': the time that marked the second half of the day on Gaia. She had also heard from the Innkeeper that night was also the customary time at which people retired to their sleeping quarters to rest and prepare for the next day.

Silence saturated the unnerving darkness, only disrupted by the distant humming of water that flowed through the dry land and the crunching of soil under their boots. The corner of the genome girl's lip curled in unease: silence was not unfamiliar to her in the village of soulless vessels where brevity governed speech, she was accustomed to it whenever she walked through the withered forests around Bran Baal where only monsters lived and laid in wait to ambush her. But this eerie calm, combined with this dim visibility had awakened a new fear in her that put her fight-or-flight instinct on edge.

A rustling sound that indicated movement was heard from behind the shrubs nearby that made the beating of her heart accelerate like a crescendo, and a gasp tore from her throat as the abrupt ruffling of wings echoed in the darkness. Her dilated eyes locked on the source of the disturbance to find the silhouette of a bird perched upon a branch of a leafless tree, a hoot emanated from its beak as it tucked its wings by its sides.

Laughter at her followed, and her brows furrowed as she turned to look at her companion, who winked as he pointed his thumb reassuringly at himself, "don't worry, I'm here!"

"I don't need protection!" Mikoto retorted sharply as she turned her nose up at him, "especially from a retard who can't use magic or telekinesis!"

_"I heard that before," _Zidane moaned, referring to that time Kuja had sent him on foot to that edifice with the anti-magic barrier, inadvertently disclosing his Achilles' heel that was his vulnerability to physical attacks.

As his eyes strayed to the moon in the sky, Zidane's first memory of going into trance resurfaced. He still could feel the destructive energy that had surged in him that subdued every monster that ambushed them, and how it had struck the other Tantalus members with awe and bafflement. Blank had explained to him that the energy he was discharging during trance was called "chi": an innate energy that could be converted to damage proportional to one's vigor. The older man had also noted that Zidane's fighting style and set of attacks during trance differed from that of any monk or martial artist he had come across, which made the adopted child wonder if he might have come from a fighter tribe that inhabited some place that was cut off from civilization. However, after years of wondering the towns and villages of the Mist Continent, asking around and searching the books, the monkey-tailed boy had come to the conclusion that he might be the only one of his kind. But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he was an alien, given life to destroy this planet that he had come to call home.

He folded his arms over his chest as he drawled questioningly, "now I'm confused. If I was indeed Garland's chosen one, then why the heck did he allow for me to be born a 'retard'?"

Zidane's inquiry was ignored for a few seconds before his companion's solemn voice meshed with the gwoking of oglops that scurried away from their approaching figures. "Kuja's magic was anomalously immense. And since he was your antithesis who could threaten your existence during your developmental years, Garland saw it that you to be born with an anomaly that was the opposite of his. But in order to boost your vigor, your telekinesis and ability to use magic had to be scarified in the process."

"So it was a simple matter of Ying and Yang," Zidane commented as his held his chin, "like the king dispatching his best swordsman to deal with the evil sorcerer."

"I'm glad you understand."

Zidane's lips puffed as he watched her out of the corner of his eyes, crestfallen as her monotone tone lacked any of the pleasure that her words meant. His eyes squinted like a goblin that was up to mischief, and he stated playfully, "by the way, I find it totally adorable when a girl gets scared of the dark. It's the perfect opportunity for me to wrap my arms around her and make her feel protected!"

_"Don't be ridiculous!" _Mikoto scrunched her nose as he demonstrated with wrapping his arms around an imaginary girl and kissing the air like an idiot.

"Yeah, you're my little sis, which makes taking advantage of the situation to cop a feel quite the taboo!" Zidane held up his hands with the palms outwards and shook his head in mock disillusionment. "Too bad, though, since you're totally cute, especially with those hairclips and ribbon around your tail!"

Mikoto, who was only familiar with two types of people: the placid Garland and the lesser genomes with no personality, scowled. She wondered what was the best way to get back at a clown who would not cease his provocative, silly little comments, and figured that the best way to do so was to make him feel like he was talking to a wall.

As that awkward silence that had loomed over them since they had met up at the Iifa Tree returned, Zidane folded his arms behind his head, thinking of topics that will build a friendly relationship between them. After he had gotten trapped inside the tree, Mikoto searched for his whereabouts while communicating with him through telepathy. After pinpointing his location, she had burned the tentacles chaining him down with an incantation and healed his wounds with a curaga. They had made it out with Kuja's dead body hauled over Zidane's shoulder, which they next buried where the raging roots of Iifa could not reach him. And with the dusk as their background, Zidane had repeated after Mikoto as she offered a Terran prayer for his soul.

Zidane smiled, deciding to heat her temper up to budge her from her silent state. "You know, more people will warm up to you if you'd just loosen up and sound less like a text book."

"It's their problem if they can't accept me the way I am."

Zidane's smirked as he heard the defensiveness in her retort and reasoned, "yeah, but still, a little compromising is needed from both parties to avoid conflict and get along with each other. Forging bonds with others facilitate life and make it more enjoyable to live, you know!"

The young bandit sighed tiredly as the only thing that followed his advice was the singing of crickets hidden in the grass patches on each side of the road.

"What's this buzzing sound?" Mikoto asked him. She had been hearing this sound ever since the night had fallen and noticed it always came from a plant source.

"Are you referring to the chirping of the crickets?"

"Crickets?" Mikoto surveyed the area around them and asked confusedly, "are they another species that live in hiding?"

"No!" Zidane guffawed, "they are tiny little insects that hide in grass and sing at night!"

Mikoto was taken aback by his reaction to her simple question. This was the first time in her life that she was being laughed at, and as her daze subsided, a cauldron of anger and embarrassment heated up in her, darkening her face with the steam it let off.

"Sorry, sorry!" Zidane held up his hands apologetically as he hopped in front of her to face her scowling profile as he walked backwards. "You're new to this world, and it's my job to teach you and the other genomes about it. I promise, I won't laugh at you ever again!"

And as he once was met by the silence of the night, Zidane just kept bringing stuff up to lure her out of her silence again. So far, it seemed that the genome girl hated small talk, and the only times she did not keep to herself were when something provoked her, piqued her interest or amused her. "I never expected you to come looking for me, I must've made you worried."

"Don't flatter yourself," Mikoto denied sardonically, "I just wanted to see it through to the end!"

"Yeah, yeah," Zidane sighed tiredly. "Never the less, it made me happy to see you."

Mikoto felt heat rushing to her cheeks, his appreciation for all the trouble she had gone through for him back then filling her with a warm, fuzzy feeling. All genomes shared the same DNA, and it was the kinship that bound them together that had transmitted his voice to her and driven her to risk her life for him.

"I bet you would've preferred if that summoner girl was the one to save your hide back then," she teased, and mentioned the eidolons she had seen through Garland's all-seeing eye over Gaia, "she could've cut off the roots tiding you down with Odin and flew you out of there with Bahamut."

"Well…," Zidane trailed off, rubbing his nape sheepishly. "It made me ecstatic to see that you came for me, Mikoto." He winked. "Turns out my adorably cynical little sister has a soft spot for me after all!"

_"Because the idea of your alien girlfriend being subjected to danger is more unbearable to you?" _Mikoto drawled.

"Now! Now!" Zidane admonished playfully. If it were Eiko or Steiner, he would have just teased them back and watched as they fume then forget about it in the next minute. Mikoto on the other hand seemed like the type to get offended easily and did not take well to jokes. He also imagined that taking care of an entire village of soulless inhabitants had left her with no one rely on or vent to. She was kind of like Dagger when he had first met her, and he wondered how to convince her that she could count on him and he will always lend an ear to her.

A wolf howled in the distance as the lights of the dwarves' settlement peered through the horizon, and with Mikoto being distracted by sounds she did not remember hearing through the day, Zidane's thoughts shifted to more pressing matters. Hades' synthesis shop had eaten their wallet up and he had handed the party's remaining funds to Amarant to use for his Spare Change before the final battle. He searched his waist-pocket, and to his relief found an elixir. He hoped that shops were still open to sell it for gil. Maybe he should also catch an oglop on the way just in case to talk Bryan Rootrunner into trading it for lodging instead of a card. They had been running around non-stop since they had arrived from Terra this morning and Mikoto must be toughing it out. His thoughts then drifted to the others, and his insecurities for being a nobody with no fortune or family name to boast about resurfaced as he thought of Dagger that he had promised to come back to. After he escorts Mikoto back to the Black Mage village he should sit down, reflect on his life that he had lived whimsically until now and plan for the future that he wanted Dagger to be a part of.

"It seems there are creatures whose activity isn't interrupted by the absence of light. So, why the biological clock of the people of Gaia is specifically set to night as the time at which physical stamina recedes?"

Mikoto's question jarred Zidane from his brooding, and he stifled a chuckle. It seemed her advanced linguistic capabilities was going to be one of her distinctive characteristics that no amount of socializing could alter. He was quite happy that she was the one to spark the conversation this time around, and the crisp mountain air that blew at their backs carried his loose ponytail and draped it over his shoulder as he explained, "let's see...I think sleep is associated with the time at which people finish up their work for the day. It's easier to get things done with the visibility at daytime, so I guess it just became a universal habit to make night the time to hit the sack!"

"Hit the…_sack?_"Mikoto's was confused as all she could imagine was a large bag.

"It's another way to refer to bedtime!" Zidane laughed. "You'll become more familiar with all different kinds of expressions and slangs the more people you interact with."

The practical Mikoto on the other hand thought it was just a waste of breath to use lengthy alternatives when shorter phrases could convey the meaning more clearly and eloquently. It seemed that one of the things that separated the people of Gaia from her own was their obsession with superfluous things. Her hands then interlaced behind her as she inquired with her sight fixed on the lights of Condie Pentie, "what are you going to do from now on? I don't suppose the Black Mage village is your final destination?"

"I don't know yet." Zidane shook his head.

Mikoto watched him out of the corner of her eyes as she informed, "that summoner girl was crying as she watched you leave."

"Her name is Dagger," Zidane reminded and kicked a pebble, his voice turning somber. "There are a few loose ends that I should take care of before I see her. Besides, I don't think I'm ready to be with her, the way I am now..."

Mikoto was surprised at her anxiety when asking the following: "Tomorrow, after you drop me off at the village, will it be the last time we see each other?"

"Of course not!" he denied. "You guys left Terra with only the clothes on your backs, and there are stuff you might be needing that the black mages and the dwarves might not be able to provide you with. So, expect me to come back soon with lots of gifts from Lindblum, and once we rebuild the theater district I'll invite you to see our plays!"

"Is a play a dramatic work written to be performed by actors on the stage?" Mikoto's interest was piqued.

"Yeah, you'll especially be moved by 'I want to be your Canary' and 'A Wish upon a Shooting Star'!" He winked at her, "I play a supporting role in both, so watch out for me!"

Mikoto reflected wistfully: the availability and variety of means of entertainment were signs of a planet's prosperity. She remembered the works of literature she had found in the storage house at Bran Baal that portrayed the beauty and liveliness of their world before the crisis.

"Until then, I trust that you'll look after the genomes and give each one of them a proper name."

"Let me just make one thing clear," Mikoto clarified sternly, "I don't plan to stay in the village forever. Garland told me there were ruins of our civilization scattered all over Gaia. So, once the genomes no longer need my guidance I'm going to look for them."

Zidane smiled, elated that it seemed she was close to finding her own purpose in life. He patted her shoulder supportively. "I know an acquaintance of Dagger's who's also a scholar. He'll be more than happy to aid you in making it known to the world that Terra once existed."

"Aren't you the least bit worried that I might use whatever I find in there against Gaia?" Mikoto snickered. "Garland imbued me with magic that rivals Kuja's, and with my telekinesis you and your friends will be like puppets in my hands. No one in Gaia stands a chance against me!"

"Terra is no more, and all that you talked about this evening indicated that you're more interested in exploring the new world than destroying it," Ziadene rebutted. "Besides, if it turns out you're hell-bent on destroying Gaia, then I guess your big brother here will have to try and talk some sense into you. You seem more reasonable than Kuja."

"You're too soft, you know that?" Mikoto derided. "I just hope this infinite faith you seem to have in the good of others won't end up biting you back one day!"

"It's too sad to live a life ruled by distrust," Zidane clarified. "Plus, it isn't in my nature to harm people before they even harm me."

"I don't know if you're either gullible or just an idealistic fool," she scoffed. Though she had no memories of him as a child, Garland had made sure that she grew up to venerate him and love him as they waited together for his return. Despite how much his altruism confused her and no matter how much his optimism made her roll her eyes they were what inclined her to believe in him. But hell had yet to freeze over before she admitted that to him.

Her sapphire eyes locked on the azure moon that she used to look at from the observatory in Pandemonium. The moon and the sun, and the intensification and diminishment of darkness and light that controlled and divided time on Gaia. Her ears then tuned into the sound of water that flowed with time, and she thought of Terra where the water stood still and daytime never ended.

Being a part of this world that defied the laws of nature she was familiar with that she only read about in Garland's notes felt so eerie and yet so surreal.


End file.
